Kenya's Cheruiyot retires from track to take up road running

Olympic 5,000m champion, Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya has announced her retirement from the track to take up road running.

Cheruiyot, 33, made the stunning announcement on Wednesday night during the 2016 Athletics Kenya Gala after an illustrious career over the 10,000m and 5,000m track competitions.

"I am graduating to road racing and will not take part at next year's World Athletics Championships in London to defend my title. It is time for other upcoming athletes to fit into my shoes because I have now passed the baton," Cheruiyot said.

Cheruiyot won for Kenya the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games to become the first Kenyan woman to take Olympic honors in the distance, where she also won the silver medal in the 10,000m event.

During the gala, Cheruiyot was also named Kenya's Female Athlete of the year, alongside Rio Olympic marathon gold medal winner, Eliud Kipchoge, who won the Male Athlete of the Year title.

Cheruiyot made her debut in road running in September 2016 at the 36th Great North Run in Britain, which is an International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) half marathon competition where she notched a convincing victory.

During the race, she out-sprinted fellow Kenyan, Priscah Jeptoo, over the final 200m to register a time of 1:07.54 during her 33rd birthday.

Cheruiyot picked her third Athletics Kenya top award after she was crowned winner in 2015 for winning the women's 10,000m at the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China after her return from maternity leave.

Commonly referred to as the "Pocket Rocket" owing to her diminutive size, the Nairobi-based police officer, with killer finishing kick, crushed her opponents during competition and for a long time was the single-most threat to Ethiopian domination of Tirunesh Dibaba and Melkamu Meserech and most recently the 10,000m world record holder, Almaz Ayana. Endit